The Tool Desk
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No source-backed comparison establishes a universal OCR accuracy winner. The practical choice depends on what you need to read, how you want to select it, which browser you use, and where the text is processed.
Which browser OCR option fits your task?
| Your need | Best-supported starting point | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Extract text from a chosen region in an image, video, or PDF | Copyfish | Its official listings describe all three content types. It uses OCR.Space’s free OCR API. |
| Highlight and copy text directly in a web image | Project Naptha | It is designed for inline selection in web images; its listing does not establish the same video and PDF coverage as Copyfish. |
| Search, translate, or copy image text using a built-in browser workflow | Google Lens in Chrome or Firefox | Chrome sends a screenshot and page data to Google for processing. Firefox requires Google as the default search engine and is rolling out gradually. |
| Run OCR on desktop content outside the browser | Copyfish with UI.Vision XModule | This is a separate optional workflow that requires installing the module; it is not the ordinary browser-page OCR path. |
These are workflow distinctions, not an accuracy ranking. Try your own image types and languages before relying on extracted text for consequential work.
Copyfish: choose a region across images, video, and PDFs
Copyfish is the most direct starting point when the text is in a particular part of a page or media item. You mark the region to recognize, then Copyfish presents the extracted text as an overlay. Its Chrome and Firefox listings describe use with images, videos, and PDFs, including examples such as photographs, charts, diagrams, screenshots, comics, memes, and video subtitles. The developer’s GitHub project lists Chrome, Edge, and Firefox support.
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That coverage makes Copyfish useful when text is embedded in a video frame or PDF, not just a static web image. Its repeat function can be useful for repeatedly reading a subtitle region, and it also offers translation. Those descriptions establish available workflows, not a guarantee that every file, page, language, or video player will work equally well.
Install it in the browser you use
Use the listing for your browser: Copyfish in the Chrome Web Store or Copyfish in Firefox Add-ons. Store versions can differ and change over time. At the time of the listed records, the Chrome listing showed version 7.0.12, updated September 17, 2026, while Mozilla’s listing showed version 7.0.9, updated September 2, 2026. Check the current listing for your browser rather than assuming those version numbers remain current.
Understand its OCR and desktop paths
Copyfish’s listings say the extension uses OCR.Space’s free OCR API. That means its ordinary browser OCR should not be described as entirely local based on these sources. Firefox’s listing separately describes optional desktop OCR through the free UI.Vision XModule. OCR.Space’s setup page describes its separate local OCR option for Windows and Mac using UI.Vision XModules2. The module is an additional installation for desktop OCR, not a prerequisite for the usual browser-page workflow.
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Project Naptha: select text in place on web images
Project Naptha aims to make text within web images behave more like selectable page text. When it detects text, you can move to it, highlight it, copy it, edit it, or translate it. The listing describes an I-beam cursor and a Ctrl+C workflow, so it may feel more natural than repeatedly drawing a selection rectangle when you are working with ordinary web images.
Its documented scope is images on the web. The available listing does not establish that it offers Copyfish’s explicitly described video and PDF workflows, so choose Copyfish if those media types are central to your task. Project Naptha’s Chrome Web Store listing showed version 0.9.7, updated January 2, 2026; confirm the current store listing for availability and version details.
What its privacy description does—and does not—say
The Chrome listing says OCR and text detection happen locally on the computer. It also says that when text is highlighted, the extension checks a remote server for a public transcription using a cryptographic hash of the URL; its disclosure says cookies and user tokens are excluded. Local OCR therefore does not mean that every part of the extension’s workflow is exclusively local. Review the current listing if this distinction matters for your use.
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Google Lens in Chrome: use the built-in page and image workflow
Google documents Lens in Chrome for searching a page or an individual image, and for selecting part of a page to search. Depending on what you need, Lens can combine image search with handling text in the image, without installing a dedicated OCR extension.
Consider the data path before using it on sensitive material. Google says that when Lens searches web-page content in Chrome, a screenshot of the page and page data are sent to Google for processing and temporarily stored for that specific query. This is a concrete privacy distinction from choosing an extension based on its documented local OCR behavior; it is not a claim that one option is universally safer.
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Google Lens in Firefox: availability depends on rollout and settings
Mozilla documents a Firefox workflow in which you right-click an image and choose “Search image with Google Lens.” From there, users can select image regions, identify objects or products, translate image text, copy or highlight text, and search using selected text.
There are two important qualifications: Google must be set as Firefox’s default search engine, and Mozilla says the feature is rolling out gradually. If you do not see the menu item, the feature may not yet be available to your Firefox installation. Mozilla’s help article was last updated June 12, 2026; consult its Firefox Lens instructions for the current workflow and availability notes.
How do I copy text from an image in my browser?
- Identify the content. For a static web image, start with Project Naptha if you want inline highlighting, or Lens if search and translation are part of the task. For a video or PDF, start with Copyfish, whose official listings explicitly describe those content types.
- Use the matching selection method. With Copyfish, mark the region containing the text. With Project Naptha, move over detected text in the image and highlight it. In Firefox Lens, right-click the image and choose “Search image with Google Lens,” if the feature is available; Chrome’s Lens workflow is documented by Google for page and image searches.
- Check the result against the source. OCR can misread characters, punctuation, line breaks, or small text. Verify names, numbers, URLs, and any wording you intend to quote or act on; test the image and language you actually have rather than assuming a general accuracy score.
- Choose a different path when the first one does not fit. If inline selection cannot access the content, try Copyfish’s region selection. If you need a desktop OCR workflow rather than browser-page OCR, Copyfish documents an optional UI.Vision module route.
Privacy, compatibility, and accuracy: what to compare
Where processing happens
- Copyfish: its listings say it uses OCR.Space’s free OCR API. Its optional desktop OCR path is distinct and requires UI.Vision XModule.
- Project Naptha: its listing describes local OCR and text detection, plus a remote lookup for public transcriptions using a cryptographic hash of the URL when text is highlighted. It says cookies and user tokens are excluded from that lookup.
- Chrome Lens: Google says a screenshot and page data are sent to Google when Lens searches web-page content, and temporarily stored for the specific query.
These product descriptions do not provide a controlled, like-for-like privacy audit. If a page contains confidential information, check the current product disclosures and your organization’s rules before sending page content to a service.
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Browser and content coverage
Copyfish’s developer lists Chrome, Edge, and Firefox; the browser store listings provide browser-specific details. Project Naptha’s cited listing is for Chrome and describes web images. Google Lens is documented in Chrome, while Firefox’s Lens path has a default-search-engine requirement and gradual rollout. Check your own browser’s current listing or help page because store availability and versions can change.
Recognition quality
The reviewed official sources describe features and workflows, not controlled comparative OCR results. They do not establish that one extension is most accurate, supports every language, or performs best on every image. For important work, compare each option using representative samples from your actual sources, including small or stylized text, and verify the output before use.
ScreenshotNeo is an image-capture alternative, not an OCR extension
If the problem is getting a clean image of a webpage before you run OCR elsewhere, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server for developers—not a browser text-extraction extension. Its clean-capture steps can accept cookie or consent banners and remove known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. It does not replace Copyfish, Project Naptha, or Lens for recognizing text.
For developers who need repeatable page captures as OCR input, ScreenshotNeo returns PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF from a GET request, and its MCP server provides screenshot tools for AI agents. Its response headers identify the page verdict and billing status; bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed. The free plan includes 1,000 shots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots. See the ScreenshotNeo documentation for setup and parameters, or sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month with no card.
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Frequently asked questions
Can these tools extract text from an image file on my computer?
The documented workflows here focus on browser content. Copyfish separately describes an optional desktop OCR workflow, which requires UI.Vision XModule; do not assume the standard extension path processes local desktop content.
Can OCR preserve the original layout?
The sources describe text selection, copying, translation, or search, but do not establish that any of these tools recreates the original image layout in editable form. If layout matters, inspect the output in the target application before relying on it.
Are the browser-store version numbers permanent?
No. Store versions and update dates are snapshots that may change; use the current listing for the browser you intend to install the extension in.
Quick Recap
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